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Criminal law – Harassment – More than one complainant – Fear engendered in one partner that violence would be used against other on two occasions – Whether establishing course of conduct – Interpretation Act 1978, s 6 – Protection from Harassment Act 1997, ss 4, 7.
Notes
In this harassment case, the defendant had threatened a couple with violence, causing each partner to fear violence on behalf of the other on two seperate occasions. The prosecution argued that reference to causing fear of violence "to another" had to be understood in the plural as well as the singular - according tro the Interpretation Act 1978, s 6 - and so it could be applied to conduct where the victim was different on each occasion.
The judge ruled that this could not amount to harassment contrary to section 4. The act makes clear that the victim has to fear violence against himself, rather than on behalf of someone else.
This case only applies to section 4 of the Act, which explicitly prohibits someone to caused fear of violence against themselves. By contrast, Section 2 of the act makes it an offence to pursue a course of conduct causing "harassment, alarm or distress". Had the defendant in "Caurti" the outcome may well have been different - cf: DPP v Dunn.
Caurti could be of use where you are accused of harassment, and one of the instances of harassment alleged is that the manager of the shop was feared violence on behalf of his staff. This case establises that this cannot amount to an instance of harassment - the victim must fear violence for himself.
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